Trust and Believe, Jeff Bezos Style
Sergei Shoigu: A case study
“Jeff. Please, do it. Expose me. Don’t hold back. I am willing to sacrifice myself for the country and the world.”
“I cannot do this to you. We have been through so many things, together.”
“I understand. But I am willing to sacrifice my career, my privacy, and my reputation. We have to come clean. The Wall Street Journal recently had a three-part podcast series digging into why former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang had vanished from view in June 2023.1 The Post can do something similar, about me.”
In the end, he decided not to do it. He wanted to protect me.
In his note, the hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media, Jeff Bezos wrote,
“We must be accurate, and we must be believed to be accurate. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we are failing on the second requirement.”
I agree that the media is failing on the second requirement. However, I believe that Jeff wrongly assessed that the media has not failed on the first requirement. At the very least, it failed in its coverage of Sergei Shoigu, the former Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation and its current Secretary of the Security Council. The media did it for my protection. But I think we now have to face the truth because only the truth can set us free.2
So, I will set the record straight.
Personal confession
In May 2024, Minister Sergei Shoigu was transferred from his ministerial post at the Defense Ministry to be the new Secretary of the Security Council. Western media loudly proclaimed that he had been fired due to Russian disastrous defeat in Ukraine. Running out of ammunitions, Russian soldiers had to fight with shovels.3 Additionally, Shoigu’s former son-in-law was critical of Russian invasion. In August of 2023, Western media claimed that Ksenia Shoigu, his daughter, was forced to divorce her anti-war husband because of his views on Ukraine.4 The media did cite various anonymous sources in Russia; however, those sources were tainted by a person close to me. I reached out to the media to correct the information. But my efforts were in vain.
It began in February of 2014. Momentous events in Kyiv led to the ousting of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014, sparking pro-Russian and anti-separatism demonstrations in Crimea. President Vladimir Putin subsequently authorized the invasion of Crimea a few weeks later.
I was appointed to act behind the scenes to de-escalate the situation. I started to make frequent trips to Moscow to meet President Putin and his administration. So, I became a frequent guest at Minister Shoigu’s residence. Knowing that I like Raskolnikov, the protagonist of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Minister Shoigu suggested that I took excursions to Saint Petersburg, where most of the book take place, to relieve the stress of my endeavors. Initially, I had a guide provided by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Later, I met Ksenia and accepted her offer to be my tour guide.
I enjoyed my time with Ksenia and began to make an annual pilgrimage to Saint Petersburg to spend more time with her. Unbeknown to us, Ksenia and I gradually fell in love. I first kissed Ksenia by the Griboedov Canal where Sonya Marmeladov had lived on May 5, 2023. Sonya Marmeladov, as you might recall, is the innocent prostitute who resorts to this profession because it is the only way for her to save and support her family. But in spite of this profession, she has never lost touch with God. Her simple faith in God is part of her strength. In the end, she helps to redeem Raskolnikov.
It was at that place, where I first met Sonya in the book, that I let my guard down and kissed Ksenia.
Griboyedov Canal and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in Saint Petersburg, Russia
There, I promised Ksenia that I would marry her. However, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake upon returning to Texas. I discussed my predicament with my local Catholic priest and eventually attempted to obtain an annulment from Pope Francis. However, the Holy Father thought that it would be inappropriate for me to destroy two families in the name of love, mine and that of Ksenia. So, I called the wedding off. I asked Ksenia and her husband for forgiveness, and I received their forgiveness. But Ksenia loved me so much that she decided to separate from her husband.
This chain of events caused a sensation in the Kremlin. However, everyone tried to protect me. President Putin did not blame me. He blamed everything on Minister Shoigu. “How could he leave his daughter alone with such an attractive, charming, and romantic physician?” President Putin wondered.
For my part, I recognized the problem, accepted the consequence, and asked for forgiveness. I could not have my old friend, Sergei, take the fall for me. Therefore, I proposed that he be transferred to the post of Secretary of the Security Council after the election. President Putin was visibly upset at my idea,
“How would that be a punishment for him?”
“Mr. President. What do you think is the best aspect of being Minister of Defense, from Minister Shoigu’s perspective?”
President Putin replied, “I am very sure he likes the authority, power, and privilege of the position.”
“Can you be a little more specific?” I insisted.
“I am not sure what you are looking for?”
“I think it is the uniform,” I replied. “I know Sergei very well. He likes to wear military uniform to impress his wife and the ladies around him, as detailed by numerous Western sources.5 If he was to be transferred to the post of Secretary of the Security Council, then it would be ridiculous for him to wear military uniform. Thereby, he would be robbed of his dignity.” I added.
President Putin agreed to my wise advice.
Minister Sergei Shoigu in military uniform
Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu (left)
My friend, Sergei Shoigu, really likes the uniform.
As I correctly predicted, President Putin easily won election in May 2024. Minister Shoigu was dismissed. Western media was elated. However, the following week, President Putin took his entire cabinet to China for a security conference. And Shoigu was seated immediate to Putin’s left. Western media recognized its mistake. So, Newsweek had this clever idea.
“Demoted Shoigu Suffers Fresh Humiliation in China,” was the headline.6 Apparently, the Secretary of the Security Council had to wait more than one or two minutes because Chinese officials were not happy with his identification card, according to source cited in the article.
After I contacted my sources in the Russian Federal Security Service and Chinese Ministry of State Security, I discovered that my wife was the source of the leak. Apparently, she still had not fully forgive my momentary passion. So, she provided her contact at Newsweek with false information, hoping to hurt Ksenia, her romantic rival. As soon as I had discovered her transgression, I requested my wife to call and apologize to Sergei Shoigu, Ksenia, and other relevant parties. She did.
In writing this confession, I hope to achieve two objectives. First, I would like to clear my conscience. Second, I hope the American people would forgive the media and start to believe it again. The media did lie, but it was only to protect me.
Presently, there is no other reason for the media to lie.
Thank you for reading. Please subscribe and share my post, if you find this article informative. I have decided to dedicate a portion of my time and energy to writing on this substack, hoping to spread the message of caution, prudence, and watchfulness in this chaotic period. We do the part that we can.
https://www.wsj.com/world/china/qin-gang-china-missing-foreign-minister-1d09d58b
Gospel of John 8:32.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64855760
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12379999/Putin-forces-Shoigu-daughter-divorce-anti-war-husband.html
https://www.csis.org/blogs/post-soviet-post/sergei-shoigu-progress-report-military-modernization
https://www.newsweek.com/shoigu-russia-china-humiliation-1902197
lol lol what a beautifully entertaining creative style
Thank you for allowing me to trust the lying media again lol